A wrongfully terminated Chinese-American scientist was just awarded nearly $2 million in damages

The grassroots advocacy network of concerned Chinese-American citizens helped raise money for Chen's legal defense. APA Justice is one of the most vocal and consistent voices against the China Initiative.

The networks were created to support Chen when news broke that Chinese-American academics were being investigated and terminated under suspicion of espionage.

The parallels were clear. Several failed and weak prosecutions have been seen with the China initiative. Ms. Chen is not the only one, according to a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The FBI charged Chen with espionage after she was accused of illegally accessing a government database to share information about American dams with Chinese scientists. It was discovered that Chen used a shared password to access a database for her work. Five months after the charges were filed, the Justice Department dropped them. The FBI charges led to Chen's dismissal from her job.

The Commerce Department's Investigations and Threat Management Service (ITMS), an internal security unit, had engaged in broad patterns of unfounded, discriminatory investigations aimed at Chinese-American and other employees. The report led to the dissolution of ITMS.

The Merit Systems Protection Board, a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates employment cases involving federal employees, won a wrongful terminated employee's case. The Commerce Department appealed. Her lawyers wanted $5 million in damages.